Trump Says No “Transgenders” in the Military (Liberty Counsel)

WASHINGTON, D.C — President Donald J. Trump announced today that the U.S. government will not allow so-called transgender people “to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military.” President Trump’s announcement came just weeks after Defense Secretary James Mattis announced that he will defer implementation of the transgender policy until January 1, 2018. The Obama-era policy would have allowed incoming service members identifying as “transgender” to enlist if they have been “stable” in their gender identity for 18 months.

“Transgender” service members have been able to serve openly in the military since last year, when former Defense Secretary Ash Carter ended the ban. Since Oct. 1, transgender troops have been able to receive medical care and receive taxpayer-fund medical treatment that includes hormone therapy, counseling, and body mutilating plastic surgery.

In a series of tweets today, President Trump wrote: “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow…transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.”

Liberty Counsel has been involved in this military issue by meeting with White House officials and others about the need to reverse the Obama policy. Last Friday, Jonathan Alexandre, Director of Public Policy at Liberty Counsel, met with White House officials and discussed this issue, stressing the importance of the President’s power to direct his generals to prioritize unit cohesion and military readiness rather than sacrificing them to the demands of the transgender lobby.

Several Army soldiers and civilian employees also recently contacted Liberty Counsel for assistance for objecting to being forced to participate in LGBT training based upon their religious beliefs and conscientious objections. These include an Army Major and graduate of West Point, a former Special Ops high level DoD employee, Aerospace Engineers, and other military and civilian employees who objected to the Obama transgender policies.

“I applaud President Trump for making America safe again,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The military is a lethal weapon designed to protect America and our allies. It is not a social club, a social experimentation petri dish, or ClubMed. The focus should be military readiness and unit cohesion. The President has kept his promise to return to military priorities by not continuing the ‘transgender’ policy that undermines unit cohesion, preparedness, and morale. The duty of military officers is to appropriately lead and prepare their personnel to serve and protect, and they cannot do that when there is confusion, dysfunction, and safety issues within the barracks,” said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.